Yoke for pyrophoric lighters



March 4, 1952 M. QUERCIA 2,587,894

YOKE FOR PYROPHORIC LIGHTERS Original Filed Sept. 22, 1948 W i 81MPatented Mar. 4, 1952 2,587,894 YOKE FOR PYROPHORIC LIGHTERS MarcelQuercia, Paris, France Continuation of application Serial No. 50,524,

September 22, 1948. This application Decem her 4, 1950, Serial No.198,981

4 Claims. 1

- The present invention relates to a yoke for pyrophoric lighters, andmore particularly to a yoke having a cylindrical housing accommodatingthe flint and a helical spring acting on the flint.

This application is a continuation of my abandoned co-pendingapplication Serial No. 50,524, filed September 22, 1948, for FlintCarrying Yoke for Cigar Lighters.

It is an object of the present invention to keep the pressure on theflint substantially constant in spite of the wear of the flint.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a yoke in whichthe tension of the spring can be easily adjusted.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a yoke in which theexchange of the flint is rendered particularly simple.

A yoke according to the present invention comprises in combination, aplunger acting on the spring opposite to the flint and arranged in thehousing for longitudinal displacement, the p1ung-' er protruding beyondthe end of the housing and having a, plurality of circumferentialgrooves each having a first wall arranged substantially at right anglesto the axis of the plunger and a second wall inclined at an anglesubstantially different from 90 with respect to the axis of the plunger,the second wall being arranged so as to face the spring engaging end ofthe plunger, a

member freely articulated to the body of the yoke, and a finger formingpart of the member having a shape corresponding substantially to thecross-section of the grooves and including an inclined face adapted toengage the second walls, the finger being adapted to engage the groovesone at a time automatically under the action of the weight of themember, whereby the plunger holds the spring under tension and theengagement of the inclined face of the finger with one of the secondwalls of the grooves allows to increase the tension of the spring byexerting a pressure on said plunger, thereby passing automatically saidfinger from engagement with one of the grooves to engagement with thenext groove.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a boring is providedin the housing for accommodating spare flints and arranged in alignmentwith the point of articulation of the member, the member closing in oneend position thereof, and in the other end position thereof freeing, theopening of the boring.

The novel features which I consider as characteristic for my inventionare set forth in particular in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe bestunderstood from the following description of spe-' cificembodiments when read in connection with wheel 1 which is acted upon foroperating thestriated wheel-c. A protecting case y is provided aroundthe wheel 0 to form a wheel housing.

on the flint d presses, preferably through an intermediate piece it apressure spring 2', housed in a longitudinal boring of the body a. Atits other end, this spring bears on a cylindrical plunger a arranged forsliding freely in said boring; this plunger 7' is provided with a seriesofcircular grooves having substantially vertical walls and inclinedwalls 9' and engaged by a nose k of a finger k, articulated at Z on thebody a.= This finger Ic-k when engaged in one of the grooves of theplunger 7' (position shown on the figure), maintains the pressure ofspring 2': on the flint d. It will be realized that as the flint wearsoff, it will be sufficient, in order to keep the ten-- sion of thespring substantially constant, to cause the plunger y to advance insideits boring by making it engage successively the nose of the finger 1a.;

with one of the grooves corresponding to the position of the plunger.The plunger is provided with an adequate and sufiicient number ofgrooves to maintain a substantially constant pressure of the spring 2'on the flint d, in accordance with the wear of the latter. In theembodiment shown in the drawing, three grooves 9' only are shown, but itis obvious that, according to the length of the flint used, the plungermight have four, five, or a larger number of grooves.

The lower part of the yoke comprises a sec.- ond longitudinal boring m,parallel with the first. one, which can be used for storing the spare.flints, In the normal position, the end of the articulated finger itcloses this housing and prevents the flints from escaping therefrom.

The operation of this device is as follows:

In use, when, due to the wear of the flint, it is desired to restore thepressure of. the spring it is sumcient to turn the device upside down soas to bring on top the finger k and then to press with the hand on theprotruding end of the plunger 7', so as to bring the next groove 7'facing the nose k of finger 7c. The latter rises for the passage fromone groove to the next and, under the action of gravity, it falls intothe next groove which it engages. By discontinuing the action of thehand on the plunger ,1, the spring 2' which acts on the latter maintainsthe engagement between the finger and the groove and thus ensures thelocking. Thus, by successively engaging, one after the other, thegrooves of the plunger; the tension of the spring is kept substantiallyconstant during the wearing off of the flint.

On the other hand, in order to replaoe the flint, the finger 7ck isbrought downwards, (position shown in the drawing), then, by pressing onthe plunger, the finger is released, and, toppling over under theactionof its weight, (positionshown in dotted lines) it frees the plunger 7'which can thus be removed together with the spring 1' to put a new flintin position. In this position the housing m for the spareflints isitself freed, which makes it possible tc remove the necessary flint.

It will be realized that the device may be built of metal, from theblock, suitably milled and described above, or two or more together, may

also find a useful application in other types of yokes for pyrophoriclighters diifering from the types described above.

While I have illustrated and described the invention asembodied in, ayoke having a cylindrical housing accommodating the flint, Iv do notintend to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modificationsand structuralchanges may be made without departing in any way from thespirit of my invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofmy invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily-adaptit for various applications without omitting features that, from thestandpoint of prior art, fair-- 1y constitute essential characteristicsof the generic or specific aspects of this invention and. therefore,such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended withinthemeanin and range of equivalence of the followingclaims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure'by Letters Patent is:

1. A self-contained yoke unit for pyrophoric lighters comprising incombination a narrow elongated cylindrical housing; a friction wheelmounted within said cylindrical housing at one end thereof turnablyabout an axis extending normal to the axis of said cylindrical hous n anoperating wheel secured to said friction wheel so as to enable manualturning of thesame about itsaxis of turning; a. flintarranged in'saidcylindrical housing slidably within the same; spring means arranged alsoin said cylindrical housin pressing said flint against said frictionwheel; a pressure member arranged at the other ,end of saidcylindricalhousing slidably within thesame so as: to abut against saidspring means and force the same against said flint, said pressurememberihavinga plurality of circumferentialzgrooves each having a firstwallarranged substantially at right angles to said pressure member and asecond wall inclined at an angle substantially different from withrespect to the axis of said pressure member; and an adjusting membermovably mounted on said cylindrical housing and having a shapecorresponding substantially to the cross-section of said grooves andincluding an inclined face adapted to engage and hold said pressuremember in diiferent positions withinsaid cylindrical housing, therebyadjusting the pressure exerted by said spring means against said flint.

2. In a yoke for pyrophoric lighters having a cylindrical housingaccommodating the flint and a helicalrspring acting on the flint, incombination, a plunger acting on the spring opposite to the fiint andarranged in the housing for longitudinal displacement, said plungerprotruding beyond the end of the housing and having a circumferentialgroove; a member freely articulated to the body of the yoke; a fingerforming part of said member and arranged to engage said grooveautomatically under the action of the weight of said member to hold saidplunger in position; and a boring in said housing for accommodatingspare flints and arranged in alignment with the point of articulation ofsaid member, said member closing in one end position thereof and .in theother end position thereof freeing the opening of said boring.

3. A removable spark creating yoke unit for pyrophoric lighterscomprising in combination, a cylindrical housing being open at bothends; a flint arranged in said cylindrical housing slidably within thesame; a friction Wheel permanently mounted on said housing in front ofone open end of the same preventing removal of said flint through saidopen end and turnable about an axis extending normal to the axis of saidcylindrical housing; an operating wheel secured to said friction wheelso as to bealso permanently mounted on said cylindrical housing togetherwith said friction wheel, enabling manual turning of said frictionWheel; a helical spr n v arranged in said cylindricalhousing'permanently pressing with one end said flint against said,

friction wheel; a plunger arranged also slidably in said housing andabutting against the other end of said helical spring, said plungerprotrudtial grooves, each of said grooves having a first wall arrangedsubstantially at right angles tothe axis of said plunger and a secondwall inclined at an angle substantially different from 90 with respectto the axis of said plunger; a member freely articulated to the body ofthe yoke; and a finger forming part of said member having a shapecorresponding substantially to the crosssection of said grooves andincluding an inclined face adapted to engage said second wall of any oneof said grooves, said finger being adapted to engage said grooves one ata time automatically under the action of the weight of said member,whereby said plunger holds the spring under tension and the engagementof said inclined face of said finger with said second wall of said anyone of said grooves allows to increase the tension of the spring byexerting a pressure onsaid plunger, thereby passing automatically saidfinger from engagement Withone of said grooves to engagement with thenext groove.

.4..In a yoke-fol pyrophoriclighters having a cylindrical housingaccommodating the flint and a helical spring acting on the flint,' incombination, a plunger acting, on the spring opposite to the flint andarranged in the housing 'for longitudinal displacement, said plungerprotruding beyond the end of the housing and having a plurality ofcircumferential grooves, each of said grooves having a first wallarranged substantially at right angles to the axis of said plunger and asecond wall inclined at an angle substantially different from 90 withrespect to the axis of said plunger, said second wall being arranged soas to face the spring engaging end of said plunger; a member freelyarticulated to thebody of the yoke; a finger forming part of said memberhaving an end having a shape corresponding substantially to thecross-section of said grooves and including an inclined face adapted toengage said second wall of any one of said grooves, said finger beingadapted to engagesaid grooves one at a time automatically under theaction of th'f'w'eight of said member, wherebyltsaid plunger holds thespring under tension and the engagement of said inclined face of saidfinger with said second wall of said any one of saidtgrgoves allows 26to increase the tension of the spring by exerting a pressure on saidplunger, thereby passing REFERENCES CITED The following references areof record in the file of this patent:

UN ITED STATES fPA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 1,746,321 Taintor Feb. 11,1930 1,793,515 Segal Feb. 24, 1931 2,198,311 Lukezic Apr. 23, 19402,219,531 Racek Oct. 29, 1940 FOREIGN 'PAEFENTS Number Country Date96,858 Austria May 10, 1924 277,438 Great Britain Sept. 29, 1927 923,563France Feb. 24, 1947

